In the fight against cybercrime, data security experts cannot afford to get complacent. Everyday, new strains of malware are being released onto a vulnerable public. While the average person’s computer is understood to be at risk from the newest viruses, worms and trojans, government agencies are expected to have the security of the latest cyberthreat defenses. With amount of highly sensitive information stored on federal and municipal servers, the utmost care should and usually is taken to ensure their security. The question remains, however: is it enough? As the propagation of malware continues unabated, can government agencies ever become truly secure?

Cyberthreats continue to grow

A recent cybersecurity report found that 27 million malware strains were formed in 2012, an average of 74,000 per day. The total number of known variants existing today hovers around 125 million. Even the most comprehensive cybersecurity initiatives would have difficulty protecting against all of them. Although experts try to get out ahead of hackers and shore up defenses before a breach occurs, they usually operate in a reactionary capacity.

Many enterprises around the world think they are prepared for cyber attacks but the reality is that any organisation is at risk of a security breach, consulting firm Deloitte has warned.Deloitte released the results from its sixth annual global Cyber Security Survey which was conducted with 121 technology, media and telecommunications companies. Fifteen percent of the participants were from the Asia Pacific region.The survey found that 88 percent of executives who took part did not see their company as vulnerable. In addition, 60 percent of participants rated their ability to respond to newly developed threats as either average or high.

The Sage Policy Group of Baltimore and Instant Access Networks examined what would be the economic cost to the U.S. in the event of a deliberate electromagnetic pulse attack (EMP), an attack that could result from a nuclear explosion from a device launched off-shore with virtually no warning.

EMP is up to $3 trillion, nearly equivalent to the federal government’s entire 2013 budget, and that’s just for an attack that would impact the eastern seaboard.

The study was meant to give a conservative determination of the economic impact from the effects of an electromagnetic attack on the Washington, D.C., region, stretching from Baltimore, Md., to Richmond, Va. The effort was to “put a financial face to the problem and suggest quick steps that can be taken to mitigate” the economic impact of an EMP attack, according to the study.

There's no doubt that the BYOD trend is gaining momentum, with more and more companies permitting employees to bring personally owned devices—in particular notebooks, smartphones, tablets—into the workplace.But while there are numerous benefits to BYOD—It's no wonder that in security circles, BYOD is referred to as "Bring Your Own Danger" or "Bring Your Own Disaster."

When it comes to securing their networks and data, too many businesses are fitting expensive locks, but leaving the keys under the doormat.The information security threat has increased over the last few years, with the growth of organised crime, and state-sponsored electronic espionage and cyber warfare.

Hackers today are still compromising systems that are not properly secured, or using well-known, often simple, exploits where a fix or patch is available and vulnerabilities from two, three or even four years ago.

Former U.S. president George W. Bush and some of his family members had their email accounts hacked by an anonymous hacker "Guccifer" according to the Smoking Gun. The crime and scandal site said Thursday that it exchanged emails with Guccifer, relating the hacker's claims "to have swiped 'a lot of stuff,' including 'interesting mails' about George H.W. Bush's recent hospitalization, 'Bush 43,' and other Bush family members."

Among the materials Guccifer published online were paintings by George W. Bush—self portraits of the former president in the bath, taking a shower, and visiting a church—as well as a "confidential October 2012 list of home addresses, cell phone numbers, and emails for dozens of Bush family members," correspondence between the Bushes and well-known figures like Fox news broadcaster Brit Hume, and even an email containing the security gate code for a Bush family residence.

A series of brazen cyberattacks on America’s most high-profile media outlets has revived concerns over Chinese hackers when part of a string of incidents traced back to Chinese servers associated with previous intrusions.

Analyst say it is likely linked to the secretive Beijing government but other security professionals argue it is hard to be certain the attacks stem from China or that the hackers acted at the behest of the government.